


Door Called Danny Concannon, A

by westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Post Bartlett Administration, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-20
Updated: 2007-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-15 13:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,737
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14791652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist/pseuds/westwingfanfictioncentral_archivist
Summary: What happens after then end of the Bartlet Administration? Follow CJ, Danny, and the rest of the characters on their life journey. Mainly CJDanny, but other characters and pairings join in.





	Door Called Danny Concannon, A

**Author's Note:**

> A copy of this work was once archived at National Library, a part of the [ West Wing Fanfiction Central](https://fanlore.org/wiki/West_Wing_Fanfiction_Central), a West Wing fanfiction archive. More information about the Open Doors approved archive move can be found in the [announcement post](http://archiveofourown.org/admin_posts/8325).

  
Author's notes: This is the second installment in the Welcome to the Rest of your Life series. This is my first fanfiction story, and I would appreciate it if you would let me know how I'm doing. Thank you.

These characters are not mine, I'm just having some amateur fun. So sue me. (Don't actually sue me, please). Aaron Sorkin is my hero.

Thanks, and enjoy,

kate (aka uberhyper and inlovewithwestwing)  


* * *

&&&&&&

**LAX Airport, Terminal 7, Los Angeles, CA**   
_9:30 am, January 21st, 2008_

&&&&&&  
The plane ride was okay. It wasn’t the worst one CJ had been through, but it definitely wasn’t the best. She’d never been a fan of plane trips. Especially ones spent sitting next to the President, listening to him babble about some unimportant piece of information that only he seemed to care about. Although, riding on a plane with its own operating room did have its advantages. But, alas, this trip had not been spent on Air Force One. It had been spent in one of those tiny little cramped seats with no leg room. Definitely not good for someone over 6 feet tall. CJ’s legs were cramping before the plane had even reached flying altitude.   
Anyways, getting off of that plane was probably one of the most bittersweet moments of CJ’s life. She was sad because her time in the West Wing was over. No more 20 hour days, no more national crises to take care of, no more foreign leaders bent on world domination, no more bills to pass, no more worries about what other people think. Actually, that all sounded pretty good to CJ. But she definitely would miss the people. Eight years is plenty of time to build solid relationships, and CJ had made a lot of friends. Of course, her best ones had already gone by the end of the Bartlet administration. Sam had been first, and Toby had been last. Toby’s leaving had caused her the most pain. She’d always been more connected to him then any of the others. When he left was when she lost her faith. And that’s were Danny came in.   
He’d returned her faith to her. He’d given her a reason to keep going. That first night she’d shared with him had been one of the best of her life. And that’s why the moment was bittersweet. She was officially ending her run in the White House, but she was starting a whole new life with Danny.   
Thoughts of Danny waiting for her at the airport put a smile on her face. It felt good to smile. It was something she hadn’t done for a while, not since Toby left. As she stepped off the plane, her long legs stretching out for the first time in four hours, she felt of sense of home coming. Santa Monica, California had been her home long before she’d joined up with the Bartlet campaign. And with Danny, she felt more at home than she ever had before.   
She walked down the long hallway connecting the plane to the terminal. The length of her legs gave her the advantage of speed, but not grace, especially in heels. So her fast pace was marred a little bit by a couple stumbles. When she stepped out into Terminal 7, she wasn’t sure what to expect. She hadn’t been to LAX in a long time, so she didn’t know whether Danny would be able to meet her in the terminal or if he would have to wait in the main part of the airport. When she didn’t spot him, she quickened her pace to make it out of the terminal. 

&&&&&&

**LAX, Main part of the Airport**   
_9:35 am, January 21st, 2007_

&&&&&&  
Danny leaned against the wall next to Terminal 7. He wasn’t allowed to go into the terminal, but he could wait outside of it. He checked his watch. CJ’s plane had arrived at 9:20 am. He’d been watching the arrival board far too diligently. He’d just sat there, waiting for the United Airlines flight from Washington Dulles to show up. It was supposed to land at 9:25, but it had been 5 minutes early. That suited Danny just fine. He glanced over at the entrance to the terminal quickly.   
_It’s only been 15 minutes Danny, calm yourself._ But he couldn’t. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t resist looking over shoulder at the hallway behind him every few minutes… or seconds. _She’ll be here. Don’t worry._ At least part of his brain was rational. The rest of it was to busy thinking about CJ to be rational.   
There. He watched as CJ stumbled out of the terminal, her eyes searching. Danny smiled. He walked over to her and gave her a big hug.   
“Danny!” She hugged him back fiercely. It had been a long time since she’d seen him. 

“Hey CJ.” He kissed her on the forehead, not even bothering to hide his pleasure that she was excited to see him. She wrapped her arms around his neck. 

“It’s been a while.” 

“It has.” Danny wrapped an arm around her waist and began leading her toward the baggage claim. “How was the flight?”

“Cramped. And nerve-wracking.” She replied, holding him tighter. He rubbed her back in sympathy. “So what have you been doing since I last saw you?” She asked, changing the subject.

“Missing you. What baggage claim is for your flight?” She smiled at the first part.

“I think it’s number 3. And I missed you too.” This caught him off-guard. CJ didn’t usually show her feelings, especially in public. He decided not to call too much attention to the fact.

“Think or know?” He responded.

“I know everything thank you very much. If you’d asked me that a week ago, I would’ve been able to count the number of shingles on the roof of your house.” She laughed, but it was a sad laugh. She obviously would miss the White House.

“You sound like President Bartlet,” He replied, lightening the mood exponentially. She laughed and punched him in the arm. “Ow!”

They bantered like that until they reached the baggage carousel. When he spotted her red suitcase, he left her side to retrieve it. 

“How did you know my suitcase was red?”

“I’m a reporter. I know these things.” He shrugged as he returned to CJ’s side. 

“Whatever.” He laughed at that. “So, where to now?” 

“Home” Danny answered, leaving CJ and walking out through the airport doors and into the sun. 

“We have a home?” CJ wondered, following him. “When did this happen?”

“You’ll see.” And that was all he said. 

&&&&&&

**Santa Monica, CA;; Faith Heights Neighborhood**   
_10:04 am, January 21st, 2008_

&&&&&&  
Danny pulled the car up to the front of a large house. It had two stories, which was very unusual for California. The outside was light blue, with the edges of windows and such painted dark blue. CJ stared out her window in awe. It was an amazing house. Danny got out and walked around to her door.

“Wasn’t quite what you expected, huh?” He said teasingly as he gave her a hand to help her out of the car.

“Danny it’s beautiful.”

“This? Oh, no, this is the neighbor’s house. We live in the little shack down the street.” He laughed, obviously joking. CJ gave a look that said, “You are so immature,” before joining in on his laughter. He held up his hands in defeat and then used one of them to grab her hand. He led her up the path and to the front door. His free hand went to his pocket and removed a key. He smiled and unlocked the door. It opened to reveal a comfy, cozy entrance way. CJ left him and walked inside, her mouth hanging open.

“Danny…. It’s stunning.” CJ managed to stammer. And quite right she was. The house was very open. The entryway consisted of a wall on the left, a closet on the right, and an opening into the front room, the kitchen, and the stairs that lead to the second level. CJ walked in a little further to peer around the wall and into the front room. On the left wall, there was a large window with view out onto the street. The room had a wood floor, just as the entryway did. In the far right corner, there was an opening into another room. Danny came up behind CJ.

“You like it?” 

“I most certainly do.”

“You haven’t even seen the whole thing. Come with me.” He took her by the waist and walked further into the front room. He took her on a circle tour of the whole house. It was a fairly large and incredibly open house. The downstairs had six rooms. A very nice front room with a large window, a small dining room that opened into the kitchen, which had counters on all the walls. The kitchen turned into a small open area that had sliding glass doors that led to the backyard and pool. Walking further, and down three carpeted steps, one found a sunken living room with large windows and a fire place. Heading back up the small set of stairs, and taking a sharp left, you found yourself back in the entryway, which had a connecting bathroom. 

When Danny took CJ up the stairs, she saw a medium sized bathroom on the left, and an extra bedroom on the right. Turning the corner and walking down the hallway revealed another guest bedroom on the left, and a study farther down.

“This’ll be your office.” He told her, pointing into the large room with a wooden floor.

“Oh, Danny, this is amazing.” She was seriously shocked. 

“Save your amazings until you see the master bedroom.” He pulled her across the hallway and opened the door. The room was stunning. Large windows covered the left side, there was even a skylight. It looked out onto the backyard, and again CJ caught a view of the pool. She spun around slowly, taking in every single inch of the room. 

“Danny… it’s… just…” She couldn’t even form a cohesive sentence.

“You don’t have to say anything.” He looked at her with an amount of love in his eyes that was almost inconceivable.

“No, I do. Danny, it’s just plain stunning. This would be our room?”

“It would indeed.” He walked up and put his arms around her. She leaned in and planted a kiss on his lips as her arms wound around his neck.

“Is this real? Are we actually going to be living in a house together?”

“Yeah. I know what you mean, it seems surreal to me too. Do you like the house? We don’t have to make a decision until Wednesday.”

“I love the house. Definitely. But I hope you don’t mine my asking, how are we affording it?”

“It’s covered. By California’s standards, this house is ant sized. So it was actually pretty cheap.” 

“Are you sure Danny? Because… it just seems like… oh I don’t know.”

“Seems like what? What nothing. No questions about it. When we talked a week ago, you said that you’d like to live in a house. We decided that I would come out here before you and look around. I did, and this is what I found. Money is not an issue.” He was serious. And a little mad that CJ thought he couldn’t afford the house.

“I know Danny. I just. I just, I just, it’s all so new to me. Living with another person.”

“CJ, we’re going to learn new things. I’m quite certain that you can teach old dogs new tricks.”

“Was I just compared to an old dog?”

“Well, the old part is debatable but pretty much, yeah.” She gave him a look and he laughed. The tense mood lessened in intensity, and Danny grabbed CJ again, pulling her into a kiss. The kiss took its course and eventually their hands started roaming. Then CJ broke the kiss but stayed in Danny’s arms. 

“We don’t even have a bed up here, mister.”

“The floor works for me.” She laughed a playfully pushed him away. He sighed, looking dejected. CJ gave him a peck on the lips to make up for it. 

“By the way, when are we going to get our furniture?”

“The moving van should arrive in three day. It’ll bring both of our stuff from our respective apartments.” 

“Okay. Sounds good to me. But where are we going to sleep tonight?” 

“We could stay in the Holiday Inn; it’s only a couple miles away. Or we could get a bunch of blankets together and make a bed on the floor, sleepover style.” He grinned.

“Well, we decided that we’re getting the house, right?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“So, then maybe we oughta stay here.”

“Are you serious? Cause I’m sure we could pull something together.”

“Yeah. I want to stay here tonight. I mean, it’s our home now.” She said decisively.

“Okay. It’ll take a little bit of work, but let’s see what we can do.” He smiled and took her by the hand. He led them from the room, down the stairs, and back out to the car. He opened the back, and pulled a blanket and a comforter from his suitcase. When she gave him a quizzical look, he explained. 

“I brought them just in case.” She smiled. He was always a step ahead of her. They re-entered the house, and set up a little make-shift room. They were done by lunchtime. They went out to eat, because there was no food in the house. And spent the rest of the day touring Santa Monica.

&&&&&&

**The new home of CJ Cregg and Danny Concannon**   
_8:56 pm, January 21st, 2008_

&&&&&&

Danny and CJ were sitting on their not-so-comfortable make-shift bed in their bedroom, holding hands and talking about life. They were drinking wine, which always assured an interesting conversation. 

“Remember the first time you kissed me.” CJ said.

“No, I remember the first time you kissed me. You were so affected by my very presence.” 

“Was not. I believe that you were the one who liked me.”

“The feeling was mutual.” He said confidently. She shrugged.

“Whatever.” He laughed. There was long pause while they reflected on their first year or two in the White House.

“Those were some good times.”

“Yeah, they were.” Her voice was sad. “We did some really great things.”

“Yeah you did. And you did more than anyone else.” A tear rolled down her cheek. 

“I miss it so much.” The sudden admission caught Danny off-guard. He hadn’t expected their conversation to take this turn. He moved closer to her, and put his arms around her, holding her tight. She leaned into him. There was a quiet pause. “I accomplished more in 8 years then most people do in their lifetimes. I can’t say that it was the best time of my life, but I definitely enjoyed it. We did so much. I had the opportunity to change the world.”

“And you did a mighty fine job. You were the best press secretary in all my years as a White House reporter. That’s no small feat.”

“Well, as long as I have the Concannon seal of approval, right?” She smiled wryly.

“You bet you do.” He said innocently, ignoring her sarcasm. She smiled at him.

“Well, you have the Cregg seal of approval, so we’re even.” 

“Now there’s something I could shout from the rooftops.” He laughed, touching his heart lightly. She smiled and grabbed his hand, holding it in hers.

“It sure is.” She replied, not having anything better to say. 

“Darn right.” He kissed her. 

“Now there’s something that deserves the Cregg seal of approval.” She murmured between kisses.

“What? My kissing expertise?”

“Um, yeah.” 

“Or just because I’m so attractive?”

“That’s a two way street, bucko.” 

“Of course.” He kissed her again, and, naturally, their hands started to roam. His traveled under her shirt, starting to take it off. She didn’t stop him. Eventually, she worked his shirt off of him too, and pretty soon, they were both close to naked. They savored their first night without the Secret Service nearby, their first night without CJ’s cell on the bedside table, ready to ring if anything happened. And the first night of the rest of their lives.


End file.
